Treasure Hunter Sharon Santoni on the Art of Antiquing in France

INSPIRATION | CABANA TRAVEL | WORLD OF CABANA

To treasure-hunting author of The Art of Antiquing in France, Sharon Santoni, speaks with Cabana about decades spent exploring the country's bustling brocantes, the objects that have filled her home and the enduring thrill of the search.

INTERVIEW BY SARA PIERDONÀ | CABANA TRAVEL | 1 AUGUST 2026

For Sharon Santoni, France is best discovered before breakfast, among the brocantes and village fairs where decades old embossed linens, enduring silver and miniature paintings emerge from the backs of vans as dawn breaks. Drawn from decades spent living in Normandy, The Art of Antiquing in France traces the places, people and objects that have attuned her eye as a collector. To mark its publication, Santoni speaks with Sara Pierdonà about the markets, rituals and discoveries that continue to shape her search.

When did you start going to markets?

It began when I was a full-time mother, when the mornings seemed like time set aside for myself, away from the family routine. First, I visited markets in Paris, then in the south of France, and finally in Normandy.

What was your first purchase?

My husband and I were living in Paris, and we had practically no furniture. We didn't have much money, so we decided to invest what we had in antique furniture after discovering a fair not far from where we lived.

The idea was to buy a table, two chairs and maybe an armchair. Instead, we found a painting and spent everything we had on it. It has followed us everywhere, each time we've moved, and we still love it very much: it depicts two women, I think they have a real presence, and they have kept us company wherever we have lived.

What is your favorite market?

I would say Chatou, which is held twice a year in March and September. It is located less than one hour outside of Paris. The fair itself lasts ten days, so the dealers arrive with their dogs, settle in and have lunch together. It is a market that cultivates a very different and pleasant atmosphere.

How did the idea for your book come about?

In the past, I have published other books, and when Flammarion contacted me to write a new one, I had almost complete freedom to choose the theme (so much so that another option would have been a book about my garden). But I realised that buying antiques is a quintessential activity for anyone who lives in France and that I started doing it as soon as I moved here and continued throughout my entire adult life.

The thrill has never worn off, and it is a ritual I enjoy every single moment of: waking up early on Sunday morning, getting into the car, finding oneself in a vast open field, and beginning the search – obviously wearing boots to avoid the mud. It is wonderful to watch the sellers, shortly after dawn, unloading real treasures from the boot of their cars.

When I started collecting, it was during the era when large country houses were being broken up, and everything they contained was sold, one piece at a time. I began by buying things to furnish my own home. Little by little, I became more knowledgeable and able to distinguish between higher and lower quality within similar categories. What is truly surprising, however, is that objects made 150 years ago, both more sophisticated and more basic, are almost always still usable and in excellent condition – and this says a great deal about their intrinsic quality.

Think, for example, of bed linen: there are exceptional pieces still in circulation, perhaps embroidered with enormous monograms, and they are all different, because they were made at home during a time when people grew their own linen, spun it and finally sewed it, exactly to the size they needed. And to this day, I use antique linens on the beds in my house. After a simple wash, they are still in impeccable condition.

Which objects do you prefer to buy?

I buy a lot of tableware, because it is still so relevant to contemporary life. And there is so much tableware available. It is always easy to discover, and I must also include silverware.

Of course, I also buy paintings, which has actually become a problem, because I have run out of wall space to hang them. Small oil paintings on board always make me think of the leisure activities of people who lived their lives in the countryside, at a time when there was no television and certainly no social media. I think it was perfectly normal for them to own a painting kit and a folding chair and, in their free time, go for a walk and paint what they observed. These small, humble pieces seem to have an important connection with the past.

The Art of Antiquing in France: Flea Markets – Brocantes – Antique Shops by Sharon Santori, Flammarion, 2026. Available now at the Cabana Bookshop.